7 Fun and Engaging Arbor Day Activities

Just a few days ago we wrote about the ways you can celebrate Earth Day with kids! Well, equally important and a nice continuation is Arbor Day, a holiday that’s the main focus of this article! While some activities can work well for both holidays, Arbor Day is more specific, focuses on one goal, and has a long tradition. We’ll explore these differences in detail, share some exciting information, and conclude this article with fun and engaging Arbor Day activities for kids. 

As you’ll see in the following sections, people started celebrating Arbor Day as early as 1594. And, while it didn’t become a big holiday like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, it holds immense value to our civilization, reminding us of the foundation that unites us all! 

Celebrating nature is part of every culture, which is why it is not surprising that Arbor Day (at least in some form) is celebrated all around the world. 

What to Teach Kids About Arbor Day?

Teaching kids about Arbor Day can take many forms. In your lesson plan, you can implement Arbor Day activities, watch documentaries or movies, have an open discussion, etc. However, before anything else, students need to have some idea of what exactly this holiday represents, why it’s so important, and how we came to celebrate it officially. 

Start with what children already know – Arbor Day is that day of the year when we plant trees. The word “arbor” literally means tree in Latin, which technically makes it the day of the tree. But, it’s better if we think of Arbor Day as a time when we celebrate nature and greenery through the process of making our planet greener! How do we do this? By planting trees, of course! 

The reason why the ritual of planting trees became an annual observance and even a national holiday in many countries, is because from a very long time ago, people understood the value of trees for both our life and environment!

History of Arbor Day

It seems like the first documented observance of Arbor Day happened in 1594 in a small Spanish village called Mondoñedo. People back then planted mainly lime and horse-chestnut trees, transforming the place into a distinctive sight that still stands today. 

In another Spanish village, 200 years later, the first modern Arbor Day was observed around 1805. But, it wasn’t until 1872 that this holiday was first celebrated in the USA. 

The holiday spread in the USA through Nebraska, where people were most affected by the lack of trees. In the beginning, this event was largely advocated by newspapers who urged people to get into the habit of planting trees, but soon after the state proclaimed a special day for planting trees that aims to raise awareness about the value of trees.

The first official Arbor Day was celebrated on the 10th of April in 1972 in Nebraska. But, the date is not set in stone. In fact, this year, Arbor Day will be celebrated on the 25th of April. 

The date can change from year to year due to weather conditions. This is also the reason why many countries in the world celebrate Arbor Day on different dates. For instance, a similar day in Japan (Greenery Day) is observed on the 4th of May.

Significance of Arbor Day

By now, kids would most likely wonder “Why is Arbor Day so important?” However, the real question here is “Why are trees so important?” There are countless reasons, but here are some:

• Trees clean our air. They remove pollutants from the atmosphere and increase oxygen in the air.
• Trees promote health and well-being. It’s believed that looking at trees, hearing the leaves rustle, and smelling nature calms people, makes them more relaxed, and reduces recovery time. 
• Trees battle global warming. They cool the air and surface temperatures of the Earth both directly and indirectly. 
• Trees help us save energy. If people plant the right trees in the right spots around their house, they can actually reduce energy consumption by up to 20%. This is because big trees can cool the home during summer and protect it from harsh wind and cold during winter.
• Trees are crucial for biodiversity. They’re the home to a large portion of species in the wild and essential for survival for many more. Basically, without trees, the Earth will probably lose 99% of its animal species. In fact, a lot of experts believe that if all the trees suddenly disappear, we (humankind) might not be able to survive.

If you want to fully capture the importance of trees to kids, read and extract some fascinating predictions from the BBC article titled “What Would Happen If All Trees Disappear!”

Another valuable resource would be the “Natural World” section on our website, where we keep our large collection of facts and worksheets on all kinds of trees, rainforests, gardens, and many other related topics. 

Let’s say that there’s no future without trees. In this case, teaching kids how to respect nature and plant trees becomes a moral responsibility. In the following paragraph, we’ll discuss Arbor Day activities that aim just that – to provide a great starting point for future minds that are going to invest in the environment. 

Engaging Arbor Day Activities for Kids

We couldn’t start this list without the obvious, yet undoubtedly unskippable activity for Arbor Day – planting trees! But, bear with us because we have also prepared fun crafts, engaging educational materials, games, and a few more things! Let’s begin!

Planting Trees

Well, planting trees seems like a pretty straightforward activity, but it’s actually not! Aside from having a few things to consider, the most frequent mistake is neglecting the type of tree that’s going to be planted and the planting spot! 

These two things go hand in hand. Some trees are more suitable for some spots, while others might do more harm than good! For instance, ask yourself whether the tree is going to fit in that place once it has grown. Some trees reach up to 200 feet! The implications would be covering the school or your home completely from that side. Also, the roots are another problem. The Arbor Day Foundation has a lovely section on how to choose the right tree and where to plant, so check that out before engaging kids in a planting activity.  

Once everything is ready, here’s a brief step-by-step guide on how to instruct kids to plant trees: 

• Step 1: Prepare the gardening tools and repeat the safety instructions!
• Step 2: Dig a hole in your desired spot that’s at least 3 inches deep. 
• Step 3: Remove any rocks, sod, clumps, etc. 
• Step 4: Insert the small tree, branch, or seeds inside the hole and fill it halfway. The size of the hole should be different for different planting methods.  
• Step 5: Press on the soil and water it to secure the tree in place. Then, add the rest of the soil, filling it completely. 
• Step 6: Water the tree again and with the rocks that were left aside make a circle around the tree. 

Tree Crafts!

Another way to honor trees is to engage kids in some arts and crafts activities. In addition, we’ll share our two pics for Arbor Day.  

Paint a Blossoming Tree with Paper Tissue

The first creative activity would be making a lovely blossom tree with tissue paper. It’s a great idea because spring is in full swing and kids see blossoming trees all around them, but also because they can all choose what kind of tree they want to make – a cherry blossom (and all its varieties), apple, peach, and some others. 

What you’ll need for this craft is a brush, brown paint, painting block, glue, and small pink (or your students’ preferred color) tissue paper. 

First, instruct kids to paint a tree trunk and its branches. The more branches they paint, the richer the final painting would be. 

Once it’s dried, ask kids to take the tissue paper and cut it into small pieces – they don’t need to be symmetrical or the same size. In fact, it might look better and more natural with asymmetrical blossoms. Next, ask the kids to crumble the pieces of tissue paper in a ball-like form. 

Finally, gently dip the back of the pieces in glue and stick them on the paper as extensions of the tree branches – just like real blossoms. 

Handprint Trees

The second Arbor Day activity involving art is a project called handprint trees! We love this activity because it’s easy to make and kids can later use it as a pinboard for sticky notes!

You’ll need a piece of cardboard (longer than the kids’ forearm and palm), color markers, scissors, and green sticky notes.

First, ask kids to place their forearm and open palm on the cardboard. Then, they should trace it to outline the arm. If you work with younger children, place kids in groups of two and tell kids to help each other by outlining the arm of their group partner. 

Next, cut out the cardboard outline and instruct kids to write their name, as well as some interesting wood patterns to make the shape look more like a handprint tree. 

When they’re done, think of an easily accessible place to hang the handprint trees! This way, kids can use them to write reminders or responsibilities on the green sticky notes (representing the leaves) and pin them on the fingers (representing the branches of the tree).  

Symbolically, once they complete an activity, they can let it fall in a small basket under the handprint trees. This would serve as a visual reminder of everything the kids have accomplished so far. 

Learn About Trees

We’ve mentioned several times that although the main objective of Arbor Day is for people to plant more trees, the underlying message is spreading awareness about the importance of trees. And, what better way to accomplish this than with educational, yet captivating picture books or games and puzzles in the form of worksheets. 

Educational Books About Trees

Books about trees can focus on the types of trees, the function of trees, trees as resources, and so on. Here are our favorites: 

• What Tree Is That?: A Guide to the More Common Trees Found in North America (Mom’s Choice Awards Recipient) by Arbor Day Foundation and Karina I. Helm (Illustrator).
• Arbor Day Square by Kathryn O. Galbraith and Cyd Moore  (Illustrator).
• Arbor Day Amazing Things: Crafts, Games, Poetry, and More For You: Arbor Day Things To Do by Amanda Monk.
• Arbor Day Tree: Arbor Day Rhyming Picture Book by Dee Smith.
• Trees Are Majestic: A Salute to Arbor Day by Hyacinth J. Burgess-Gregory.

Worksheets And Educational Games About Trees

• For teachers: Arbor Day Manual: An Aid in Preparing Programs for Arbor Day Exercises by Charles Rufus Skinner.

Educational Puzzles and Games About Trees

Do your kids enjoy puzzles and other types of brain games? Our worksheet packs feature dozens of game-like worksheet printables that you can implement in your classroom with just one download. Best of all, you can actually turn some of the worksheet activities into friendly competitions that would surely get kids’ interest. 

Here are our favorite worksheet packs that we believe are suitable for this Arbor Day: 

• Arbor Day
• Earth Day
• Sequoia Trees (largest trees in the world)
• Coniferous Forests
• Narra Tree
• Rainforests

Recite Arbor Day Poems 

The youngest ones would probably benefit most from learning about trees with music. Rhymes are catchy and without effort, they stay in our minds for a long, long time – maybe even forever, which is exactly what we need when we don’t want to overwhelm children. 

Additionally, it’s probably more important for kids to associate this day with positive emotions, rather than just plant a couple of trees without truly investing themselves in the holiday’s mission. 

Here are some poems about Arbor Day that we like, which you can learn with your students and kids: 

• Three Poems for Arbor Day by the Arbor Day Foundations. They include “Threes,” “Trees of the Fragrant Forest,” and “An Arbor Day Three.”
• “My tree,” “The First Tree,” and “When You Plant a Tree” by Lenore Hetrick.
• “Let’s Plant” A Tree by Aileen Fisher

Pro Tip: Head over to DiscoverPoetry where you’ll find thirteen different poems about Arbor Day and trees in general. Some of the poems include “The Heart of the Tree” by Century, “Arbor Day Hymn” by Samuel F. Smith, and “What Do We Plant?” by Henry Abbey.

Start a Herbarium

Finally, the last and probably the most elaborate Arbor Day activity is teaching kids how to start their own herbarium. Elaborate in the sense that kids will need to work on it for months, years (maybe even their whole lives), but it would be a nice challenge! Alternatively, you can suggest making a group herbarium – one for the whole class and everyone will contribute to it until you fill it with all kinds of trees and other plant specimens.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make a herbarium: 

1. Start collecting different leaves, flowers, branches, etc. (this is an ongoing step!)
2. Cut the specimen to fit the size of your planned herbarium, and then dry everything you have collected.
3. Press the specimen – the most straightforward way is to place the specimen inside of a large book over which you’ll place more books, even though it might not be the best method for preservation (depends on how serious you want the project to be).
4. Stick the specimen on a piece of paper that will become part of the herbarium (only do this once the specimen is completely dry). It’s best to use PVA glue.
5. Label the specimen – this means to write the full name of the specimen, the location where it was collected, when it was collected, and a detailed description of its characteristics. 
6. Protect the specimen – the herbarium is basically a collection of pieces of paper with dried plants glued on them. They’re incredibly fragile, so keep them in separate folders in a cool, dry, and flat environment. Tell kids that if they take care of the herbarium, it can last over 200 years – at least that’s how long Sir John St Aubyn’s herbarium is. Today, that herbarium represents a fascinating glimpse into the botanical profile of the 18th century. 

Before You Leave

Arbor Day activities provide kids an opportunity to get involved in nature, learn about many natural phenomena such as photosynthesis, weather changes, factors that influence the climate, as well as many other biological and physical processes. So, don’t skip out on the opportunity to celebrate Arbor Day! 

If you need any help in figuring out how to create a lesson plan, follow the links through our article. Alternatively, you can check out our library of Earth Sciences and choose the resources that work best for you! 

Before we say goodbye, let us remind you to visit our blog and subscribe to our newsletter. We have new topics coming up in various aspects of a child’s education, so make sure you don’t miss out!